Hey Jude
by nilvisk
Summary: England, 1968. Gilbert, Feliciano and Ludwig are best friends. Inseperable. Everyone knows that nothing can tear them apart, but is that really true? Friendship, romance and hurt/comfort story, might be rated M later on
1. Hey Jude!

_Hello to everyone who is still reading/following this story, time for a quick chat. I'm surprised every time I get a new email telling me somebody added this to their favourites and I think 'wow, I haven't even updated in over a year!'. Well, whoever is out there reading this, I have to tell you that I will be re-writing this story from scratch because I really feel as though it could be written so much better than it has been. I don't know how long it will be before I can properly write this story again now that I'm back at uni, but I'll only write in my spare time and I'll spend longer on it so that it's better, rather than rushing it out to make people happy, plus I'm not in a very PruIta mood lately so that might make it take longer... buuuut it will happen again :D_

_One last thing, as an apology for not updating this story in so long, here is the first chapter completely changed and re-written, enjoy (again)._

* * *

><p>It was a crisp, cold winter afternoon and Feliciano was treading carefully along the icy pavement, frightened of slipping and not realising that his tiny cautious steps put him at even more risk of doing just what he feared. It had been a long and boring weekend, and he was glad that he had five more days back at school with his friends. He was never allowed to see them at weekends unless he went out, and even then it had to be prearranged at least a week before.<p>

He dug his already gloved hands in to the pockets of his jacket for even more warmth as he remembered clearly how his brother, backed up by their grandfather, would refuse to let the two German boys, his two only friends, into their home, no matter how much Feliciano pleaded his case. 'The war happened twenty years ago' he would always say to Lovino, none of them were even born then. He could understand the reason for his grandfather's hostility towards Ludwig and Gilbert, but Lovino had no excuse. His mum let them do all the talking in that situation so it was no use asking her, even though he knew she was on his side.

Sighing, Feliciano became absorbed in his thoughts so much that he failed to notice someone quickly catching up to him. That was, until the over confident boy took a wrong step and his foot slipped out from under him, causing him to fall backwards. "Owwww, shiiiit..." he groaned as he lifted himself up. Feliciano turned around as quickly as the ice allowed and smiled as he instantly recognised who it was.

"Gilbeeeerrt!" Felciano grinned, the other boy always knew how to make Feliciano's good days even better. Once Gilbert got himself steady again, he suddenly found his feet were once again off the ground, although this time it was because he had been physically lifted by a hug.

"Ach, Feli..." he tapped Feliciano's left shoulder three times, a warning sign that they had arranged only a week after knowing each other. Feliciano was very affectionate, sometimes a little too much, and therefore a warning signal between them had to be arranged. "Can't breath, crushing me" he breathed out, but Feliciano was already lowering him back to the ground.

Gilbert chuckled quietly, their greetings almost always happened this way, and he couldn't say he didn't enjoy the warm feeling that spread through his chest at the close physical contact, especially not when it was winter, and he accepted the feeling with open arms, quite literally. On the other hand, though, this warm sensation scared him so much but he had absolutely no idea why.

"I'm sorry Gilbert" he said, but the grin was still there, and there was no trace of an apology to be found on his face. "I thought you were being kept behind again?" he tilted his head in confusion, he rarely walked home with Gilbert because the other boy was never around to do that. Gilbert just laughed.

"Oh, I was" he smirked "I was in there for 30 whole minutes! You just walk slow" he hit Feliciano's shoulder playfully and started to walk again, this time a little slower and a bit more carefuly. "Got off lucky this time though" he changed the subject, still smiling. "No cane this time!" he laughed, his own strange and slightly croaky laugh which Feliciano loved.

"But Gilbert... Our school doesn't-"

"Ahaha so how was your day?!" Gilbert cut him off quickly, not wanting to own up to the fact that he was lying about the punishments he gets, or rather the ones he doesn't get, at school. It was something that made him feel important, like he was that much of a bad student that they needed to bring back the cane just for him. He wasn't good at much, but he liked to think he was at least good at being bad.

"Oh, quite good..." Feliciano began, trying to remember what he had done only a few short hours ago "in history we had to hand in our essays about the recent wars" he smiled, but there was a small flicker of sadness there "I think I might get a good mark for it". He was almost certain he would, the essay was about the reality of the world wars, how they affected real peoples lives, and they were given a list of people who had survived both of them that they could talk to for research. He had thrown that list away as soon as he got home and walked straight to his grandfather's downstairs bedroom, his storys were the only ones he wanted to hear or write about.

Gilbert fidgeted awkwardly as they walked, he knew what Feliciano wrote about and who he spoke to. He would recall the stories to Gilbert the next day and all Gilbert could do was listen, listen and feel sad. And he would hope, hope that something like that would never happen to his happy little friend. "That's great" he slowed a little to match Feliciano's pace.

"Yeah... It's sad though..." Feliciano stopped and turned to face Gilbert properly. He knew that Gilbert knew who he was talking about "that you can't meet him and get to know him properly..." he trailed off, looking like he was about to cry. Gilbert never wanted to see that look on his face, ever.

"No, Feli, don't get sad" he hugged him gently "don't get sad, I know his situation, I understand his illness, I know why he can't meet me, or Ludwig" he made a soft, comforting sound. "Don't start this again, little guy" he pulled back and smiled "you know I can't stand it when you're being so silly!"

Feliciano smiled back at him "no, sorry, I'll not be silly anymore" he was silent for a moment, wondering (as he often did) why Gilbert would treat him this way, Ludwig never did, all the other guys he saw never acted that way with each other, it just wasn't the way boys treated each other... Unless they all did in secret, when they didn't have to hide behind their masculinity. Felciano would probably never know, he only had his two best friends and he wouldn't have any more. He didn't really want any more, content with what he already had. "The Beatles" the words burst from his lips quickly, wanting to change the subject.

"... What?"

"Let's go to Liverpool. Let's go to Liverpool and watch them perform"

"Right now?" Gilbert looked confused, the conversation had changed so suddenly that he wasn't really following it.

"Noooo, now who's the silly one?" he smiled "I just heard that they will be playing next weekend, I forgot to mention it but I think us three should go" he paused again before he stepped back with a grin and began to sing. "Hey Jude! Don't make it baaad, take a sad song, and make it betterererrrr" he took hold of Gilbert's hand and swung it back and forth "remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better" he spun around and smiled wider as Gilbert joined in.

"Hey Jude, don't be afraid, you were made to go out and get her."

"The minute you let her under your skin then you begin to make it better."

Then they both sang together, skipping to their favourite part of the song: "Na na na nanana naaa! Na na na naaaa! Hey Juuuuude!" they sang loudly, dancing and swaying together in the street, giggling as a woman living nearby shouted out her window for them to shut up. They went on like that for a little while longer before the same woman threatened to call the police and they just ran away, still giggling and forgetting all about the ice until they felt it underneath their backs.

"Oof!" they both looked momentarily stunned, lying there on the pavement on their backs side by side. They turned simultaniously to look at each other and, after a moment of silence, burst out laughing, continuing to do so as they stood up. Feliciano put a hand on Gilbert's shoulder as he attempted to calm himself down and stop laughing. "Hehe... Mmm... So..." he looked up at Gilbert's face and his smile instantly disappeared, his mouth hanging open slightly. Gilbert's face was so close.

Gilbert looked left, and then right, and then back at Feliciano. That scary warmth was back in his chest, and after a moment he jerked away from him as though he had been burnt. "Hahahahahahaha yeah! Let's go and see them, yeah" he laughed, pretending nothing had ever happened. Thankfully, Feliciano joined in too.

"Yay!" he grinned "I'll just have to let mum and grandpa know, but I know they won't say no this time" his grin shrunk to a smile, remembering that most things he did with his friends had to be pre-approved by his family.

"Great... No need to cross our fingers then..." he shifted from one foot to the other, noticing that they were at the street where they had to split off to get to their houses. Parting was always awkward for him, and what had just happened made it a little more so. "Well, see ya tomorrow then little guy" he patted him on the head, not knowing what else to do.

"Yeah, tomorrow" Feliciano grinned and gave Gilbert a quick hug before turning around and slowly making his way back home, walking slowly and carefuly as he had done before. Gilbert didn't move for a moment and watched him, amused, before chuckling and turning away to make his own way home, gently resting his hand over his warm chest and smiling.

* * *

><p><em>Gilbert is quite out of character here, but I've never been good at writing him so this is the best you can expect from me... I'll try harder to not make him act completely different but I apologise if I do. Well, as you can see, this story has changed quite a lot. A lot more than I had expected when I started to re-write, but it just happened that way. It is now set in the swinging sixties, in England, which is completely different to the modern european generic school setting this story originally had, but the plot is going to pretty much be the same (only a little different and a lot better). Let me know what you guys think and sorry for this sudden change, forgive me!<em>


	2. Don't make it bad

_Seems I updated this sooner than I expected... And chapter three has already been started! Oh and I don't intend to offend ANYONE with this fanfic, I've got to say that now. I have been asking my dad about England in the 60s (he lived it) and he said two German's would probably be bullied or at least given a hard time as the war was still in everyones subconcious etc etc... I'll try not to focus on it too much but I hope not to offend anyone and if I do, I'm sorry. Anyway, enjoy :)_

* * *

><p>Feliciano, Lovino, their grandfather and their mum, Sofia, were sat around the dinner table, the silence only broken with the sound of knives and forks scraping against the plates. Most nights were like this in the last few months since Carlo died. Lovino coughed awkwardly, Feliciano fidgeted nervously, and Sofia sighed. "Ah.. uh..." she mumbled, poking around at her food as she thought of something to say to start a conversation. "Feliciano, how... How was your day?" she spoke in Italian, the family didn't speak in English unless they were in public or had guests. Forcing a smile, she turned to look at her youngest son just as he swallowed a long strand of pasta, smiling genuinely back at her.<p>

"It was great, mama!" he poured himself some more wine "I made a new friend" he lied.

"Thats wonderful, sweetheart" her smile started to become more natural, this is what Feliciano loved to see. He hated lying, but if that was the price he had to pay to see his mother smile again like she used to, it was worth it. Unfortunately, it didn't last for long.

"I can't believe your letting him trick you again!" Lovino pointed his fork accusingly in Feliciano's direction. "His only two friends are those two boys. The Germans" he spat out the last word as their grandfather made a noise of disapproval.

"I don't like you seeing them, Feliciano" their grandfather said quietly but threateningly. It was at that point that Feliciano tuned everything out, he didn't want to hear Lovino shouting at him, didn't want to hear his mother's attempts at sticking up for him, only for her to quickly back down and everything to go quiet again.

While Lovino was ranting and gesturing wildly, Feliciano downed his wine and ate the last few forkfuls of his pasta before standing and excusing himself. He didn't notice his mother watching him sadly as he left.

Once in his room, Feliciano flopped down on to his bed and stared out his window in to the clear night sky, ready to fall asleep counting the stars like he did most nights, but something caught his eye. Slowly, he rose up from his bed and placed his feet firmly on the floor, making his way over to his collection of records. One of his most played Beatles records lay on top; Hey Jude, with Revolution on the B-side. He had only bought it three months earlier, when it was just released. Only three months, but the cover of the record was already quite worn from the amount of times it had been handled. He picked it up and smiled, feeling happy again. Music was his happiness.

He turned the volume down on his record player so nobody else could hear and put the record in to place, watching it spin around as he moved the needle in to position. The machine crackled to life, and music poured out of it. He sat down on his bed and was grinning from ear to ear as the notes floated around his room, swirling around him and caressing his soul.

He lay back and closed his eyes, letting his cares be washed away as he hummed quietly along with the song. This one always reminded him of Gilbert, it was their favourite song, the one they sang and danced to earlier that day. Ludwig liked it too, but he didn't love it like he and Gilbert did. He thoughts drifted to Gilbert as the music washed over him, wondering if he had the song on too, but then he realised that was impossible because they shared this record, neither of them having enough money to buy one each so they both paid half. Feliciano had it one week, Gilbert had it the next. It was while he was thinking about this arrangement that he remembered he needed to hand it over to Gilbert again soon, he decided that he would do it when they went to Liverpool.

Soon enough, the song ended. He didn't feel like turning the record over to play the other song, so he just got up and lifted the needle, switched the record player off, and got undressed. Once his warm, slightly faded pyjamas were on, he lay down, feeling content and relaxed for the night and he soon fell into a sweet sleep.

When he woke the next morning, there was a faint smile on his lips as his dream slowly slipped away from his memory. He had dreamt of Italy again, of sun soaked fields and olive gardens, of warm nights, wine, and the best pasta he had ever tasted. It was a regular, recurring dream, and he always woke feeling refreshed. He had spent so long away from his true home and where he longed to be that he almost forgot what it looked, smelled, tasted, and felt like, but it always came back to him in his dreams and he would never forget. These dreams, music, and his two friends were what got him through his rain soaked English days.

Whenever he asked Sofia about when they would go home, she never gave him a real answer. "One day, honey, I promise" was her only response. He held on to that promise, carried it through with him over the years. He used to ask about going back to Italy a lot when he was younger, but as he got older he learnt that it probably would never happen, so he stopped asking as much. But he never forgot his mother's promise.

Once he was back in his school uniform, he smiled to himself in the mirror and made his way happily downstairs, grabbing his coat, bag, umbrella and an apple from the kitchen before shouting goodbye to whoever was listening. He burst out the door and in to the rain, groaning quietly as he realised the ice would be worse than the day before, now that it had water all over it to make it even slippier. Slipping on his coat, shouldering his bag and putting up his umbrella, he began to make his way slowly to school, munching on his apple and feeling glad the he left earlier than usual to make up for the time that it would take him to get to school.

He threw away the apple core in to the bushes of the country lane he was walking down, stopping in fear whenever a car drove past him, scared that it would skid on the slippy road and hit him. Eventually, he made it to school unscathed, breathing a sigh of relief when he realised there was no ice left on the school grounds, trampled away by the feet of many students. He checked his watch as he made his way through the gates, 8.40, he still had about ten minutes before he had to make his way to class. He decided to walk around the school for that short time, but as he went round the next corner he froze. A small group of four boys were crowded around something, or someone, on the floor that he couldn't see. They were shouting and laughing.

"Haha, Johnny, think he's had enough?"

"Nah mate, let's kick the shit out of him!" Feliciano felt sick, the guy who had been called Johnny kicked out at the cowering boy on the floor. Feliciano just watched in horror, too scared to do anything. "And this ones fer me dad" he laughed.

"Go home, German... Oh... Shit" one of the other boys spotted Feliciano and whacked one of his friends on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's go before he gets a teacher or summin" the four boys ran away, disappearing round another corner.

It took a moment for Feliciano to move, but then he noticed that the poor boy lying curled up on the ground was his silver haired friend. "Gil!" he shouted as he rushed over to him, falling to his knees by Gilbert's side and panicking when he saw the bruises and blood on his face. Gilbert's eyes opened at his friend's voice, looking up at him and feeling a strange mixture of relief and embarassment that Feliciano was the one to find him.

"... Have they gone?" was the first thing he asked, trying to sit up and frowning slightly when Feliciano had to help him up, it hurt his pride a little bit.

"Yeah" Feliciano nodded, but looked around once more to make sure. "Gilbert..." he looked in to the other's eyes sadly, pausing for a few moments. "How long has... Well, when did..." he tried to find the right words to ask what he wanted, but thankfully Gilbert seemed to know what he was trying to ask.

"Just this once, I promise it has never happened before... But Feli" he stood up with difficulty, Feliciano still helping him. "I'm not going to first aid, I don't need it" he shook his head, trying to convince himself, too.

"Of course you don't" Feliciano replied sarcastically, already with his arm around Gilbert's middle, steering him in the direction of the first aid room.

"I don't want to miss art lesson with you!" he looked a little worried, trying to come up with other excuses incase that one didn't work for some reason.

"And I don't want you like this all day" he answered back with a smile, looking over at him and nudging him slightly with his free arm. "And art is second lesson today, you will be out well before then" he added cheerfully.

"But... I... I don't need it! I'm tough enough! Are you saying someone as awesome as myself needs a few plasters on these tiny cuts? Hahaha I don't think so." Gilbert tried to make himself look big and tough, but Feliciano wasn't acknowledging it, he just laughed instead.

"Nooo, we're going and that's final" he smiled, not doing a good job at being assertive either.

"No we're not."

"Yes we are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Si! Ja! Yes!" he giggled, dragging Gilbert up to the door "you're going in there, Mr. Macho" he pushed open the door and, despite Gilbert's persistant protests, pushed him in. Once inside the room, Gilbert finally gave up as the first aid woman rushed to his side to check the damage. "I'll see you in art" Feliciano called cheerily down the corridor as he made his way to his first lesson.

"No you won't you traitor, how could you turn me in I thought you were my best friend!" Gilbert leaned out the door and shouted after him, putting his hand on his heart and pretending to be hurt. "How could you do this to me princess, what we had was speciaaaal!" he sniggered, trying to hold in his laughter. Feliciano just laughed, and even after he had disappeared from sight, Gilbert could still hear the other boy's laughs echo down the hallway. He grinned to himself before his eyes widened and he was dragged back in to the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Once Feliciano made it to his first lesson, he stood at his usual desk next to Ludwig's. He greeted him happily, but he couldn't help wondering if the same thing that had just happened to Gilbert would happen to his other friend, but then he shoved that thought away as his gaze travelled over Ludwig's many muscles. No, Ludwig was far too intimidating for anyone to mess with.

Once the teacher walked in and told them to sit down, he pulled out his pen and paper from his bag, wondering if he should tell Ludwig about what happened earlier. He looked over at him again as he started taking notes, then he looked up at the teacher who was talking endlessly about numbers and maths, watching them all with an intensity that earned her her nickname; The Hawk. He shrunk back in to his seat, doing the work that they were all given and waiting for the lesson to be over.

The clock was ticking away slowly on the wall, and every few minutes Feliciano kept glancing at it and fidgeting in his seat. Thirty minutes left... Twenty minutes... Five... One... Three seconds... When The Hawk wasn't looking, Feliciano leaned over to Ludwig's table and whispered "I have something to tell you after this" before leaning back just as The Hawk turned round and looked at the clock. She frowned, finishing up what she had to say before handing out their homework and excusing the class.

Feliciano quickly stood up and waited outside for Ludwig to join him, he didn't have to wait long because a few seconds later, Ludwig emerged from the classroom and headed straight for him with a confused frown on his face.

"What is it you want to tell me? Make it quick though, we should be going to our next lesson." Ludwig knew it must have been something important, Feliciano knew better than to make him risk detention for being late to class for something meaningless.

"I found Gilbert beat up and bruised this morning... The guys that got him were doing it because he's German and..." he looked up at Ludwig "did you know any of this was happening? Has it happened to you? Gilbert promised me that it hadn't happened to him before but I don't know if he was lying or not."

Ludwig was silent for a few moments, taking in the shocking new information. He knew he and his brother weren't liked here for who they were and where they came from, but he hadn't expected this to happen. Eventually, he spoke up "I... No, well, I knew that he was being bullied, I am too, but I never thought that it would become anything worse than just name calling." He frowned, not knowing what to do. They couldn't just pack up and move back to Germany, it wasn't that simple. "We'll talk to Gilbert later, but for now we have to get to our next lesson."

"Alright... Promise me you won't let it happen to you though." Feliciano almost pleaded.

"I promise." He said, giving him a small and almost shy smile before he turned around and started making his way to his next lesson. Feliciano did the same. As he was walking through the busy corridors, he wondered what could realistically be done about this whole horrible situation. He knew the reason why Ludwig and Gilbert came here, why they had spent most of their lives here just like he had, but he didn't know how their parents would react to the news.

He paused for a moment as he realised, Gilbert and Ludwig's parents, a German Jewish couple who were lucky enough to escape their country when the war had started, had made a new life for themselves here, in England. And now their two sons weren't wanted here, either. Feliciano started walking again. It was such a complicated situation, and he knew that Gilbert wouldn't want to tell their parents and make them worry... Maybe he had made a mistake in telling Ludwig what happened.

Before he knew it, he was stood outside the art classroom and he smiled, trying to forget about everything for a while. This was his favourite subject, and he got to spend the whole lesson with Gilbert. The only way it could be any better, he thought, was is if Ludwig was there too.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, plots beginning to develop a bit more... I noticed a few flaws in the first chapter but I'm not changing them as I have planned it so it will affect the plot in the future and therefore would make it a true lie... If that makes sense... Anyway, please review, I love each one I get.<em>


End file.
